Daniel "Ninja" Roberts is doing his best to make his way back to
the UFC's octagon. In the meantime the Oklahoma native is staying
active on regional circuits trying to pad his record. He looks to
notch another victory June 22 in Stockton, Calif., as he headlines
Nick Diaz's inaugural War MMA card. Roberts talks about the
upcoming match up and what he thinks about being the promotion's
first headliner.

John Howard is on the same path as Daniel Roberts. "Doomsday" is on
a six-fight winning streak since getting his walking papers from
the UFC. The Bostonian joined "Beatdown" to talk to talk about his
aspirations to get on the UFC's "UFC on Fox Sports 1" card in
Boston this August. Howard also shared his encounter with bombing
suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev in the training room.

With Jeff Sherwood traveling, former King of the Cage and Gladiator
challenge champion Javier Vazquez joined De Santis to break down
Fabricio
Werdum's submission win over Antonio
Rodrigo Nogueira, last night's Metamoris grappling event, and
other ongoings in the world of mixed martial arts.

"Beatdown" returned live for another broadcast at the L.A. Fitness
Expo with hosts TJ De Santis and Jeff Sherwood. Joining them today
was "Showtime" Javier
Vazquez.

Vazquez joined the duo to talk about his recent SRN "Rewind"
sitdown with host Jack Encarnacao, where he announced his
retirement from MMA. Vazquez also reviews yesterday’s grappling
match between TJ and SRN listener "Big Al." Listen to the show
here.

Javier Vazquez had a UFC contract in his fax machine the night he
went out to defend his King of the Cage lightweight title against
Alberto Crane in 2003. He promised a promoter he'd do the fight,
and he more than stuck to his word.

In what ESPN.com called the most inspiring MMA performance of the
decade, Vazquez went the distance with Crane despite tearing his
ACL in the first round. He fell every time he tried to punch. He
never fought under that UFC contract.

It's emotional for Vazquez to watch that fight still today. It
represents a visceral turning point for a gifted grappler and once
buzzed-about contender.

Sunday on the Sherdog Radio Network "Rewind," Vazquez joins host
Jack Encarnacao in the Sitdown to chart his journey in MMA and
jiu-jitsu, an under-appreciated run. And, more than a year after
finally making his UFC debut, "Showtime" makes an announcement
about his future.

Javier
Vazquez had a UFC contract in his fax machine the night he went
out to defend his King of the Cage lightweight title against
Alberto
Crane in 2003. He promised a promoter he'd do the fight, and he
more than stuck to his word.

In what ESPN.com called the most inspiring MMA performance of the
decade, Vazquez went the distance with Crane despite tearing his
ACL in the first round. He fell every time he tried to punch. He
never fought under that UFC contract.

It's emotional for Vazquez to watch that fight still today. It
represents a visceral turning point for a gifted grappler and once
buzzed-about contender.

Sunday on the Sherdog Radio Network "Rewind," Vazquez joins host
Jack Encarnacao in the Sitdown to chart his journey in MMA and
jiu-jitsu, an under-appreciated run. And, more than a year after
finally making his UFC debut, "Showtime" makes an announcement
about his future.

Don't miss a special Rewind, Sunday at 9 pm ET on the Sherdog Radio
Network.

TJ De Santis and Jeff Sherwood returned to The Sherdog Radio
Network on Wednesday for a packed edition of "Beatdown." Joining
them were fighters Tim Boetsch,
Daron
Cruickshank, Javier
Vazquez, and coach Firas Zahabi.

Boetsch is closing in on his final training sessions in preparation
for his Dec. 29 showdown with Constantinos
Philippou. "The Barbarian" chats about the upcoming
middleweight title, his status as top contender for Anderson
Silva's title and where the nickname "Barbarian" originated
from. The Matt
Hume-trained fighter also talks about a potential showdown with
Chris
Weidman, his original opponent for the UFC 155 card.

Zahabi was in the corner of Rory
MacDonald on Saturday night in Seattle for the UFC on Fox 5
card. Zahabi joined "Beatdown" to talk about his charge's
impressive decision win over B.J. Penn. Firas
breaks down the strategy that was implemented in dismantling a
legend of the sport, MacDonald's future and what's next for GSP.
The coach considers what challenges Georges St.
Pierre would have with guys like Johny
Hendricks, Nick Diaz and
UFC middleweight champion Anderson
Silva.

Cruickshank was another fighter who impressed viewers of the UFC on
Fox 5 card. “The Detroit Superstar” stopped Henry
Martinez with a highlight-reel head-kick knockout. Cruickshank
joins the show to talk about his win, growing up in a fighting
family and the pride he has fighting out of The Motor City.

Vazquez has always been one to speak his mind. The former King of
the Cage and Gladiator Challenge champion joined De Santis and
Sherwood looking for a fight. On Jan. 19 and 20 in Los Angeles,
Vasquez’s wife Rose Gracie will be promoting her Gracie U.S.
Nationals event as part of the L.A. Fitness Expo. Vazquez issued an
invitation to world champion grapplers to join him in a four-man
155-pound tournament where you only advance if you can submit your
opponent. "Showtime" breaks down what he feels is wrong with sport
jiu-jitsu and why he would like to compete with some of the world's
best under his set of rules.

TJ and Jeff also take a look at the sport's current events,
including what fans think of Benson
Henderson being considered as Fighter of the Year for 2012.
Check out the show
here

Sherdog Radio Network’s “Rewind” show returned Sunday with two new
hours.

Veteran fighter Javier
Vazquez joined host Jack Encarnacao to discuss Saturday’s UFC
on Fuel TV 5 card in the “Pro’s Perspective” segment. On this
week’s “Sitdown,” Joey “Bagels” Oddessa spoke about gambling and
his career as an MMA and boxing oddsmaker.

The Sherdog Radio Network was live Wednesday with brand new
episodes of "Beatdown" and "The Savage Dog Show."

Greg Savage and Jeff Sherwood were kept busy during their two-hour
session with interviews from Rick Story,
Muhammed
Lawal, and Javier
Vazquez. Lawal and Story chatted about their upcoming fights,
while Javier
Vazquez chatted about his showdown with Joe Stevenson
as well as the current state of judging in mixed martial arts.
"Showtime" had some choice words for Nevada's executive director
Keith Kizer.

Lutfi Sariahmed returned to The SRN for Wednesday's edition of
"Beatdown." Joining him was UFC lightweight contender Nik Lentz.

“I definitely think so. I definitely feel that the WEC has a lot of
confidence in me. … I think I’m getting to the point where I’m
getting very ready for a title shot. I feel that if I submit
Chad
Mendes or finish Chad Mendes,
I deserve it. If they want to put Mark
Hominick in my way, that’s OK too. Who else is there?”

World Extreme Cagefighting is pound-for-pound the illest of all
mixed martial arts promotions. A lean, mean violence machine, it
does nothing but crank out high-quality fights, and just about all
of them air on basic cable.

However, even a perfect machine needs some fine tuning every now
and then. With that in mind, here are some moves our boys at the
WEC need to focus their grind on.

Flyweights. Now. Please.

In one fell swoop, the WEC could easily put together the best
flyweight division in the world. It already has Joseph
Benavidez and Demetrious
Johnson with which to start, and something tells me guys like
Pat
Runez, John Dodson
and Alexis Vila
will not be hard to land since they are all stuck fighting in
regional promotions.

As for Shooto’s considerable contingent of outstanding 125-pound
fighters, it’s well known that top-ranked flyweight Jussier
“Formiga” da Silva is desperate to fight in America. On
Thursday, he signed a multi-fight deal with Tachi Palace Fights in
California. Assuming the likes of Shinichi “BJ”
Kojima, Mamoru
Yamaguchi and Yasuhiro
Urushitani are also willing to leave the comforts of home, they
could jump to the States for a pay raise. Even the WEC’s modest
contracts would be a worthwhile hike over Shooto’s notoriously
stingy payroll.

When the WEC tried to make featherweight and bantamweight
money-making divisions, it took it a long time to get all of the
world’s best talent under one roof. Replicating that feat in the
flyweight division would be much easier, and it sets up another
move that seems long overdue. Read more

The favorite sport of Norman Mailer’s ghost brought serious game in
the form of WEC
50 on Wednesday at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas. As
usual, the post-fight afterglow calls for some beard-tastic
matchmaking, and I’m the one to keep it extra grizzled.

I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m sick and tired of the
WEC not employing a flyweight division, especially when a match
between Benavidez and Johnson would be the perfect debut for this
weight class. There are plenty of great flyweights out there for
the taking, but using a couple of homegrown fighters to get the
division off the ground seems like an easy sell.

In Benavidez’s two bouts with Dominick
Cruz and in Johnson’s match with Brad
Pickett, their talent was every bit as obvious as the massive
size disparity with which they deal as bantamweights. Giving them
the opportunity to cut an extra 10 pounds and show what they can do
against someone their own size would serve up a guaranteed “Fight
of the Night” candidate. Read more